(The Center Square) – Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to local schools to write the rules to limit cell phones in class.
A new plan that was introduced at the Capitol this week would require school districts across the state to come up with their own cell phone policies.
State Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, and state Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, said their plan doesn’t tell schools how to ban limit students from using cellphones in class.
“We’re not saying ‘Oh the schools are doing it badly, so we have to step in.’ We’re just saying we want to give you support so that you can enforce these,” Kitchens ssaid.
Cabral-Guevara said a lot of parents, including her, know their children do better when they are not distracted by phones, apps or texts.
“So, if my own son is saying this you know there are other kids also that are recognizing it as a concern,” she added.
“Technology is not going away,” Kitchens said. “We just want them to learn to use it responsibly.”
The proposed legislation leaves the specifics of what a local cell phone policy would look like up to the school board, parents and principals. Many schools in Wisconsin already have rules against using phones in class or using them at all.
Mukwonago Schools made headlines in November of last year when school board members considered asking the local police department to help them enforce their school phone ban. The police department declined, and the school district never asked again.
Kitchen and Cabral-Guevara’s legislation does have exemptions for emergencies, or specific parental permission.